Belting



(NoModeL) J. BRADY.

MACHINE FOR STRETGHING BELTING.

'No. 251,824 Patented Jan.3,1882.

U U (0 U L1 [0 UL! aim U N 'PETERS. Phmumq her, Washington. a c,

tends the whole fabric.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

JAMES BRADY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR STRETCHING B ELTING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,824, dated January3, 1882.

Application filed October 26, 1881.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, JAMEs BRADY, ofBrook lyn,Kings county,NewYork,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in StretchingLeather Belting, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention may be described as an improvement on the system ofstretching belting set forth in a former patent reissued to me January27, 1880, No. 9,059. In this patvent the belting to be stretched isfirst wound upon a drumor,delivery-rolland thence passed over a seriesof rollers arranged in zigzag order, termed fiexion and reflexionrollers, and finally winds upon a second drum or'receiving-roll. Poweris appliedto revolve the receiving drum, while a brake or resistance isapplied at the delivery-drum to retard the unwinding of the belttherefrom, so that the ro-- tation of the receiving-drum winds in thebelting, unwinding it from the delivery-drumand drawing it in flexingand reflexin g bends over the zigzag series of rollers, which actionsubjects the belting to a strong lengthwise strain, as well as to alateral bending and rebending, which effectually stretches both thestrong and weak parts of the belt, and thus uniformly ex- V In thissystem or stretching it will be noted that the stretching is performedat one action, or is completed when the belt is wound from thedelivery-roll onto the receiving-roll, and during this single action thebelt is subjected to considerable strain. Now, according to my presentimprovement, I keep the belt in continued or repeated motion, preferablyovera series of flexion and reflexion rollers, either in a to-and-frocourse or in a regular circuit, maintaining on the belt at the same timea slight tension, whereby the stretchingaction is more gentle but longcontinued, and the belt becomes stretched mainly by the flexion andreflexion during its continued motion, assisted by the slight tensionapplied thereto, which tension acts mainlyte take up the slack orextension formed during the continued bending and rebending movement ofthe belt, which mode constitutes the main feature of my presentimprot'ement, a'shereinafter fully set forth.

In the annexed drawings, Figure] presents a sectional side elevation ofa machine adapted to carry out my present improvement and (No model.)

gether by the tie rods!) b. At each end of the frame is journaled'alarge drum, 0 c, and between the drums is journaled a zigzag series offlexion and reflexion rollers, cl (1, similar to those in my previouspatent, which drums and rollers are free to revolve in their hearings inthe side frames, to a, as will be understood. At one or both ends of theseries of flexion rollers, or at any other suitable'position,is arrangeda movable tension or take-up roller, 6, which is preferably journaled onthe ends of swinging levers g g, forming a swinging or. movable frame,which is connected by the chain It with the shaft of a small windlass,f.

tindicates the belting to be stretched, which is usually made in lengthsof five hundred feet,-and according to my present system this belt ispreferably joined at the ends by lacing or suitable hooks, as shown atIt, so as to form an endless belt or band, which iswrapped around thetwo drums c c and passed over the several flexion-rollers, d d,- andalso around the take-up roller 0, as fully shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Now,over one or both of thedriving-drums c c is mounted a gripe-roller, l,which is journaled in a suitable hinged frame or lever, m, provided withan ad justahlewei ght, m whereby the roller is constantly prtssedagainst the 0, and thus greatlyincreasing therloite or frictionaladhesion between the belt and the drum, and thereby increasing thedriving power of the drum on the belt. N ow, the shaft of eachdriving-drum is provided with the fast and loose pulleys 0 0, (shown inFig. 2,) whereby power may be applied to revolve both drums in similardirections, as illustrated, which revolution will of course move thebelt over the several rollers d d, and the take-upyroller e,

t, which tend to revolve the drum in a direc tion to wind in the chainh, and thus move ort the frame 9 g and take-up roller 0, which acts toconstantly keep the belt taut and to take up any slack or stretch whichmay form there in, and at the same time maintains a slight lengthwisetension on the belt, which may be increased, if desired, by addingweights at t or by turning the windlass by the hand crank a. As themotion of the belt is thus continued the repeated'bending of all itsparts in opposite directions as it passes over the several drums androllers, together with the slight lengthwise tension thereon, willeventually stretch the belt to its utmost at all parts and render itsupple throughout, thus rendering the belting better for practical use,for when a piece of the belting is now out and fitted to its pulleys itwill hug the pulleys more closely and move with greater ease thereon onaccount of its greater suppleness or flexibility, and, furthermore,itwill not stretch apparently and become loose when run for some time, aswould be the case with a stiff unstretched belt. It may therefore be-110w noted that by my present improved system of stretching, theoperation is performed in a gradual and gentle manner, without puttingmuch strain on the belt, and hence having no tendency to appreciabl ydisplace the fiber or strain the texture of the belt, but the stretchingand softening of the belt are performed, as itwere, in a more natural orlong-continued manner, rather than sudden and forced, as heretofore.Furthermore, in the presentapparatus, after the belt is placed inposition and the .machine started it requires no further attention andmay be left running for hours, oruntil the beltis sufiicientlystretched, which will be indicated by the advanced position of thetake-up roller in its slot, and after agiven time, with a certaintension on the belt, when the roller refuses to further advance, thiswill indicate that the beltis sufficiently stretched. Hence it isreadily apparent that the stretching action of the present machine uponthe belt is ofa perfectly natural and safe character, instead of beingpositive and forcible. Furthermore, while one length of belting is beingstretched in the machine the workmen may be engaged in cementing andriveting another length, and by the time the second length is ready tobe stretched the first length may be removed from the machine and rolledup, ready for the market, without requiring any attention from theworkmen in the meantime. Again, in some cases, the motion of the take-uproller, when it has advanced out sufficiently far, may act to sound analarm to call the attention of the workmen or operate a trip to stop themachine, thus rendering the machine entirely automatic.

It will be observed from Fig.2thatthe drums and rollers are sufficientlylongto suit the widest belt, and that the driving-drums c 0 are providedwith adjustable rims c c, which may be moved in or out, so as toapproach opposite edges of the belt, whether wide or narrow,

pulled onward by the driving-rollers.

and at the same time keep the belt always in the middle of the machine.It is much preferable that the belt should be joined into an endlessband and" movedin a continued circuit through the machine, as describedand shown, but it is not essential, for the belt may be left separate atthe ends and moved in a to-and-fro course, as represented in Fig. 3. Inthis case a pair'of griping-rollers, o v, are arranged at each end ofthe series of flexion-rollers d d, power being applied to one pair tomove the belt, while the second pair are adjusted to a lighter gripethan the driving pair, so as to partly retard the belt and thus put aslight lengthwise tension on the belt as it is When the belt is movedthrough the machine to the limit ofits length in one direction theaction of the rollers 11 'v is reversed and the belt moved back again,this to-and-i'ro motionbeingrepeatedtill the beltis sufficientlystretched, as will be understood.

I mightnote that stationary bars might be used as an equivalent for therollers 61 and 6, over which the belt would be drawn withthe same effectas in the case of rollers, but with a greater friction and strain, whichrenders rollers far preferable.

What I claim is- 1. The specified mode of stretching belting, consistingin submitting the beltingv to arepeated or continued motion overrollersor supports while under a continuous regulated tension, whereby the beltis kept uniformly taut, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. The specified mode of stretching belting,

consisting in joining the belt in the form of an endless band andkeeping this band in motion over rollers or supports while under acontinuous regulated tension, substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

3. A machine for stretching belting while in the form of an endlessband, consisting of a for advancing said roller to render the belt tautand take up the slack or stretch therein, and a suitablesupporting-frame for said parts, substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

4. In a machine for stretching belting, the

combination, with a driving drum or pulley to keep the belt in motion,of a series of flexionand refiexion bars or rollers over which the beltpasses in bends from the driving-drum,

and one or more movable take-up or tension, rollersover which a loop ofthe belt passes in.

purpose its course, substantial] y as and for the set forth.

Witnesses:

CHAS. M. Hrcems, JNo. E. GAVIN.

JAMES BRADY.

